First Lesson Down

Yesterday was my first RS lesson and I thought it went well. The timing was just right, there were great comments during the lesson and I didn't let things get out of hand....just kidding!! It was good. Not on to the next one....on Missionary Work.
I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of pictures from our trip to the Chocolate Affaire.



Of course, I forgot to take pictures until we were almost finished making the pizzas. Oops!
Today I'm working on another baby album for a baby shower this weekend. It never ends!

I Have a New Friend

Yesterday when I was scrubbing the tub/shower in the bathroom, I noticed a stain that wouldn't come up with an SOS pad. That's when I noticed a bit of mildew on the inside of the shower curtain (the side that touches the tub). Try as I could, I was unsuccessful getting the stain up. A few months ago, Mark noticed the same sort of stain when we moved a couple of shower gel/shampoo bottles. Dark stain that wouldn't go away. We tried an SOS pad, bleach solution, Magic Eraser...with no success. I mentioned it today to Erin and she suggested Bar Keepers Friend. It's a powdered cleanser you find at the grocery store. Cheap, too! Anyway, I put a little of it in my hand tonight with a little water to make a paste and I gently rubbed the stain. GONE! No scrubbing, no effort....but gone! I tried it on the old stains, too and they're gone! YEA! I have a new cleaning friend! Thanks, Erin. So I replaced the shower curtain liner. We got one that's guaranteed no mold/no mildew. We'll see if that works! But for now, I'm happy.
This afternoon Erin and family and Brian and family came by and had lunch (pizza). Then we all headed off to the Glendale Chocolate Affaire. Our goal was to let the kids make their own chocolate pizzas at the Cerreta's booth. After we finally found a place to park, we took a short walk to Library Park. The kids each made their individual pizzas and we walked back to the cars. Nobody was really interested in walking around this year because it was so darned crowded. So we met our goal and the kids all headed home. Matthew and Emma weren't able to come up to join us, so we made one for each of them and decided to deliver it to them. They were pleased and surprised! We visited with them for a while and headed back to the valley. On our way, we decided to try out the Wal-Mart in Queen Creek. We'd heard that they sold food storage buckets with Gamma Seal lids for not a lot of money. We found the store at Ellsworth and Rittenhouse and found the buckets. The buckets were $5 each (5 gallon) and the lids were $5.50 each. We got three. They also carry canning jars, water barrels, pumps for the water barrels, small lids for the barrels and a wrench to remove the lids for filling and usage. It's a good resource...and cheaper than what you typically find in a specialty store. Score!!
Tomorrow is my lesson. I've spoken to several people who agree with me that the Joseph Smith lessons are challenging, to say the least. At least I feel like I'm in good company and that it's not just me!! I pray it goes well. I've already started looking at next month's lesson. It should be a fun one, too!

Friday Funday

Today was a bit of a fun day. Erin and I packed up three of her girls and headed to Mesa to the Modbe sale at the Mesa Hilton. I didn't think they had a lot of choices, so I was a little disappointed that we went that far for not much. Erin managed to get a couple of shirts for a birthday party the girls were going to this afternoon, so all was not lost. I'm sure she could have found a few items for herself, but she restrained. The girls were great the entire time we were gone....no whining, no fussing...total cooperation. We had a picnic lunch in the car before we headed back to the west side of town. Eliza even posed under a tree for me so I could get a picture for my Project 365. We had parked under a BIG old tree that was VERY shady. I was particularly impressed with the trunk of the tree. It would be a great climbing tree. There was a funny sign on the block wall between the cars and the tree that said something like....Park at your own risk. There are birds in the trees. We thought that was worth a chuckle. After stopping for refreshment at Sonic we trekked back to Glendale/Peoria. Erin went home from here and I worked on my lesson for Sunday. It wasn't coming together like I'd like, so I set it aside for a bit. After Mark came home, we went junkin' for a while. We found a couple of fun things....I got a gallon ziploc bag full of ink pads (not sure if they're even any good), and a bunch of OLD stamps from some business. They're great and I can't wait to use them on an upcoming project. Another find was a totally retro footstool. It's about a foot tall, about a foot wide and about 18" long. It has wooden legs with metal ends and "feet". The top is a cushion covered with orange vinyl. Can you picture that? I'll have to take a photo when it's lighter in here. It's in perfect condition! I have been wanting a table/stool to put next to the recliner and to use when the grandkids come over. It will make a great stool for them to sit on. And it's a beautiful orange color. Can you tell I was excited. And it was only $5!! Another item I saw and wanted was an old, green depression glass citrus juicer. It wassss gorgeous, but I wasn't willing to pay the $25 they wanted for it. I'll wait. But I'll probablly be sorry, too.
Tonight I finished grading papers and went back to work on my lesson. I finally finished. But I hadn't realized how challenging this lesson would be. It didn't seem to flow as easily as lessons I've taught in the past. It seemed like there was a LOT of repetition in the lesson and I felt like I would be saying the same things over and over and over again. I hope it goes well. I've been working on the lesson for almost two weeks now...since I was first called. So it's not like I've been putting it off. I like to wait until near the lesson time to pull it all together so I've had a chance to study/pray/research before I tie it all up. Anyway, I may need to rethink that strategy.
Tomorrow is the Chocolate Affaire in Glendale. At least some of our kids/grandkids are coming. It should be fun.